LEDs draining battery?

[bevo1981]

my bike's battery went dead last night. i have an Alien Motion battery that is only about a year and a half old. i have 100+ LEDs as an underglow kit on my bike that i turn on when i ride at night.

and if i park in some kind of public place, i leave them on, slow pulsating mode. this kit is supposed to just draw 0.2 amps. i've noticed over the past couple weeks that when i've left my bike parked with the LEDs on for more than a couple hours, they've been turned off when i return to the bike to leave. the bike has started up just fine though. last night i left my bike parked for about 4 hours. when i got back to it, no LEDs, no battery life whatsoever. do these LEDs drain more battery than i think? is this Alien Motion battery actually crap? are you not supposed to leave these LEDs on for extended periods of time?

well i jumped the bike with no problem and it started right up twice more during the day after that. so the battery appears OK. is it possible the LEDs are drawing more power than advertized?

[drewpy]

Depends how long you ride the bike for, could not be charging enough if your only doing short trips

[dt502001]

_{ok .2 amp draw over a few hours is going to kill any battery sooner or later,the lights should be turned off if the bike is not running,it`s not a christmass tree it`s a bike I would take them off!}

[DirtyDT]

Where's Santa?

Each to their own I guess!

[Cynic]

If the battery has dropped to dead flat its already much weaker.

Bike ele tricals have very little spare as excess uses hp. Maybe fit a timer. although that will take juice.

[up.yours]

maybe you can trickle charge the battery once a week to keep it topped up. just at weekends .

[bevo1981]

maybe you can trickle charge the battery once a week to keep it topped up. just at weekends .

i like this idea. one of the main reasons for getting these underglow lights is to have them turned on when the bike is parked. but i do have several things hooked up to the battery and a few hours probably does draw a lot more than i realize. and it only recently started causing problems and i've had the lights for a year now.

[DirtyDT]

Or fit a small secondary battery with a diode so it will charge off the electrics but won't drain the main battery.

[AndrewElvisFan]

What about using a solar panel to trickle charge the battery?

[slice]

Bit like a solar powered torch Andrew only works in the sun!!! They are for night use after all and unless he leaves his bike outside all day seems a little pointless. If you fit these things to your bike then they will use power and the battery will go flat, you say that you have "several things attached" to your bike so my guess would be that your pushing the battery to hard with all the junk you have attached to it, so if you want the lights on at night turn the other stuff off and see what happens, unless it's the alarm in which case the first thing to happen will be someone nicks it!!

[up.yours]

i use something like this, http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1-6M-12V-500mA-CAR-QUAD-VAN-MOTORCYCLE-BATTERY-TRICKLE-CHARGER-/350706369946?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts&hash=item51a7ba859a

give it a try..

[Campaman]

Hamsters are nocturnal and very active at night, you could hook up a small generator to a hamster wheel and leave the cage sat on your pillion seat whilst parked up at night with the LED's on.

[jimmy]

Hamsters are nocturnal and very active at night, you could hook up a small generator to a hamster wheel and leave the cage sat on your pillion seat whilst parked up at night with the LED's on.

That would probably work, and in fact it would add to the circus look he's going for

[slice]

I sense a teeny tiny touch of ENVY in your post Jimmy, admit it you want your bike to look like this don't you?

[jimmy]

Hell, Yea

[Preload]

What is the amp hour of the battery? .2amps is nothing to worry about really. Even if you ride with them switched on the battery should still charge so I would think the battery is on the way out.

[bevo1981]

it's made by Alien Motion.

http://www.alienmotion.com/html/batteries.html

• Application - Most vehicles up to 1000cc (4 cylinder), 850cc (2 cylinder)
• Dimensions 114MM (4.5”) W x 60MM (2.36”) L x 100MM (4”) H
• Weight - 820g (1lb 13oz)
• Capacity - 4.4 Amp Hours
• Amperage Output (< 3 Sec Pulse) - 250+ Amps
• Charge Time - 30 Minutes @ 14.4V & 10 A
• Maximum Charge Voltage & Current - 14.4V / 20 A
• Chemistry - LiFePO4

i wouldn't guess the battery is going out after just a year and a half. and while i have multiple things hooked up to it, none should be drawing any power other than the LEDs when the bike is off (HID headlight which actually draws less power than the halogen bulb i replaced, and a powerpoint that only draws when i'm charging something with it). and the bike has started right up every time since i jumped it last weekend. i ride every day, mostly just a few miles at a time between stops.

[dt502001]

Bad move puting in a Lipo battery they realy hate to be discharged below a certin threshold,some if dis charged 1 time are dead, a nicad battery would have been the better chioce they can be run flat and recharged hundres of times.

We use Lipos for the RC cars but you have to set your controler to lipo so the car shuts off befor the thresh hold limit or it's junk,if your only riding a few miles then the battery is never getting fully stable Lipo's need to be fully charged every time before put to use ,,

So in essence you have answered your own question if you want to run thoes lights then change the battery to one that will take that kind of use a AGM or standard lead acid would be better sutied for this application. Nicad if you want to save weight for the disco ball that you want next to add.

Sorry to abuse you but thoes lights are hiddious and have no place on a bike IMO

EDIT if your voltage regulator ever goes to crap and over charges your LIPO it will catch fire and blow up!